Gwisai
and other detained activists granted bail

Human rights activist Munyaradzi Gwisai and five others, detained on
treason charges in Harare, were on Wednesday granted bail, more than three
weeks since their arrest.

The group, who have been held in solitary
confinement for more than a week, appeared in a Harare court on Wednesday
for a bail hearing. The judge granted them US$2000 bail each, with
conditions to report three times a week to the police.

SW Radio
Africa’s correspondent Simon Muchemwa said that the judge, who also presided
over the bail application made by MDC Minister Elton Mangoma on Tuesday,
‘discredited’ the state’s case. Mangoma was also released on bail on
Tuesday.

“The judge basically said that the state’s charges of treason
were malicious. It was clearly apparent, from what the state prosecutor was
saying, that this was just a malicious attempt to punish these people,”
Muchemwa said.

Gwisai, together with Antoinette Choto, Tatenda
Mombeyarara, Edson Chakuma, Hopewell Gumbo and Welcome Zimuto, were arrested
along with 39 others last month. The group was attending a meeting to
discuss recent civil uprisings in North Africa and were watching television
footage of some of the public protest against the oppressive regimes in
Egypt and Tunisia. But the meeting was raided by police after a tip-off, and
the group was arrested. 39 members of the group were finally released last
week, with a judge saying they had no case to answer.

But the group
was set to spend another night behind bars on Wednesday while their legal
team tried to gather the total bail payment of US$12 000. Muchemwa meanwhile
said it was encouraging that the state prosecutors left the court in a hurry
after the judge’s bail ruling, saying it was unlikely that the state will
try to appeal the decision. A spate of arrests of activists and MDC members
has resulted in an international outcry, with growing calls for the charges
to be dropped.

Wednesday meanwhile continued to be an encouraging day,
with more arrested people being released. Seven MDC youth activists and
three employees who were facing charges of assault were released from police
custody on Wednesday, after the police said they could not find the alleged
complainant. The 10 were arrested at Harvest House, the MDC head office, on
Sunday night but no charges could be laid against them as there was no
complainant.

At the same time, in Nyanga district Manicaland
province, five MDC members who were in remand prison on allegations of
political violence were granted bail on Tuesday. Paul Mawadza, Zivanai
Chimbudzi, Freedom Kanjira, Chamunorwa Mukoto and Andrew Nyabasa were each
granted US$50 bail by a Nyanga magistrate.

However two MDC activists,
Taona Chikono and Oliver Mukombwe from Chipadze in Bindura, were arrested on
Wednesday morning on charges of assault, which the MDC said in a statement
were ‘forged’. They are in custody at Bindura Central Police
Station.

Also on Wednesday a Bulawayo court denied bail to a man who was
arrested over a comment he made on the social networking website, Facebook.
Vikas Mavhudzi was arrested in Bulawayo last month, over innocuous comments
he made on Morgan Tsvangirai Facebook page. He is now facing charges of
subversion.

According to state prosecutor Jeremiah Mutsindikwa, the
39-year- old had 'unlawfully' suggested to Tsvangirai 'the taking over or
attempt to take over the government by unconstitutional means or usurping
the functions of the government.'

Judge
describes Robert Mugabe's case on Mangoma as "weak"

Harare - High Court Judge Justice Samuel Kudya on
Tuesday ripped through the State case against Energy and Power Development
Minister Elton Mangoma describing it as “weak” as he granted bail to the
troubled Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
Deputy-Treasurer-General.

Justice Kudya ruled that the State’s case
against Mangoma, who was arrested and detained last week for alleged
criminal abuse of duty appears to be weak and would not induce Mangoma to
abscond as had been feared by the State.

But it seems to me that in the
absence of evidence that the applicant personally benefited from the deal,
his actions were prompted by a national crisis. As Minister responsible for
energy all Zimbabweans looked up to him to provide a quick solution to the
problem. His well meaning response to a national emergency may prove highly
mitigatory.

"Courts do accept that at times paths to hell are often paved
by good intentions. Those good intentions may prove highly mitigatory,” said
Justice Kudya as he delivered his ruling in a packed court room on Thursday
afternoon.

Justice Kudya ordered Mangoma to deposit US$5 000 with the
clerk of court and to report once every Wednesday to Marlborough Police
Station. The MDC treasurer-general was also ordered to surrender his
passport, continue residing at his given residential address and not to
interfere with witnesses.

The bail ruling came after Mangoma’s lawyer Selby
Hwacha filed a bail application which was opposed by the State, which was
represented by Chris Mutangadura, the chief law officer in the Attorney
General’s Office.

Mangoma, who was charged with criminal abuse of duty as
a public officer was arrested last Thursday at his offices.

The State
accuse Mangoma of unlawfully abusing his office as Energy and Power
Development Minister by ordering his subordinates to procure five million
litres of diesel from a South African company, Nooa Petroleum without
following tender procedures.

Meanwhile police were still holding 10 MDC
officials and activists arrested at the party’s Harvest House headquarters
on Sunday night without charge, the party’s spokesperson said
Tuesday.

MDC-T spokesperson, Nelson Chamisa said no charges had been
preferred by the police since the law enforcement agents picked up the 10 on
Sunday. He said his party has already instructed their lawyers to know why
the police arrested the officials and ensure that the 10 are released from
police custody.

“No charges have been preferred to our officials
arrested by police and we wonder why? Like any other MDC people who are
arrested, they have no case to answer. These were simply boys and girls who
were arrested at their party headquarters for no reason,” Chamisa
said.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, who is the leader of the MDC-T
last week complained about the arrests of his party officials and activists
in the past two months since the beginning of this year. The premier said
the violence and arrests of his party activists were being orchestrated by
state security institutions.

"From January 2011 up to today, we have
seen an increase in incidences of violence and assaults on the people of
Zimbabwe. This has included the destruction of people’s homes and property
in Mbare and the displacement of 1 200 MDC cadres," Tsvangirai
said.

"The violence in Mbare coincided with the massive deployment of
soldiers to terrorise innocent civilians in the countryside. People are
being force-marched to attend rallies and there has been an upsurge in cases
of intimidation and State-sponsored violence in the
countryside."

Tsvangirai said the clampdown on his party is reminiscent
of 2008 deadly violence that led to over 200 of his supporters being killed
towards the presidential run-off. He said Zanu (PF) supporters accused of
the murders are yet to face any prosecution.

"Zanu (PF) cadres and
securocrats who murdered people in the run-up to the 27 June election are
roaming free and no criminal charges have been pressed against the murderers
of Tichaona Chiminya and Talent Mabika and the other 200 victims of the 2008
violence," he said.

ZANU
PF crackdown on activists continues

The ZANU PF led crackdown on human rights activists and NGOs has
continued this week, with leading action groups coming under
threat.

On Tuesday police officers from Harare Central Police Station
raided the offices of the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, before going on to
search the home of the group’s Director, MacDonald Lewanika. The police were
armed with a search warrant signed by Chief Superintendent Peter Magwenzu.
They said they were looking for anything ‘subversive’, such as t-shirts,
documents, fliers, or anything incriminating.

The officers
confiscated copies of the Crisis Coalition’s ‘Civil Society Monitoring
Mechanism’ reports, as well as copies of the ‘Legal Monitor’, published by
the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.

The raid comes a few days after
Lewanika was arrested and detained for several hours, on his way to a
concert in Chitungwiza on Saturday. He was eventually released but was told
on Monday that he was being charged with ‘behaving in a way that can disrupt
peace’.

Meanwhile, police have once again summoned Abel Chikomo, the
director of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, to report to Harare Central
Police Station. Chikomo on Monday reported to the police in the company of
his lawyer Harrison Nkomo and was set to return on Wednesday. Over the last
few months, Chikomo has been repeatedly interrogated and told to report to
the police, in connection with some of the activities carried out by the
Forum. This includes the recently launched Campaign against Torture, the
Transitional Justice National Survey and several press statements issued
this year about the resurgence of politically motivated
violence.

International human rights defenders group, The Observatory for
the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, on Wednesday said it was concerned
that “these acts form part of an ongoing trend of harassment by the Zimbabwe
Republic Police against the Forum and more generally against human rights
defenders in the country.”

The Observatory is a joint programme of
the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World
Organisation Against Torture (OMCT). Seynabou Benga, a coordinator with OMCT
told SW Radio Africa on Wednesday that the harassment on Chikomo is “very
worrying.”

“We are concerned that these series of summons could
eventually lead to Mr. Chikomo’s arrest. We would want the Zimbabwe
authorities to immediately and unconditionally put an end to this harassment
which we believe is sanctioning his human rights activities,” Benga
said.

Benga also raised concern that this is just one example of the
harassment that is steadily intensifying against human rights activists in
Zimbabwe.

“What we see right now is very revealing. With forthcoming
elections and a referendum of the Zimbabwean constitution, we see that the
authorities are deliberately putting pressure on human rights defenders,”
Benga said.

The Observatory has echoed calls by Amnesty International for
the public to write protest letters to high ranking authorities in Zimbabwe,
calling for an end to the harassment and intimidation being suffered by
activists. The letters are meant to be addressed to the likes of Justice
Minister Patrick Chinamasa and Attorney General Johannes Tomana, and even
directly to Robert Mugabe.

Observers have already commented that such
letters, although of good intention, will have very little influence against
these top instigators of persecution in Zimbabwe.

Tsvangirai
to Address star Rally On Saturday

HARARE,
March 16, 2011 – Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC-T) has lined up a star rally on Saturday in what insiders say is
intended to brief supporters about the latest crisis in the government of
national unity (GNU).

Dubbed the “People Peace Rally”, the gathering
would be addressed by Tsvangirai who on Wednesday went on a regional
diplomatic offensive to brief Southern African Development Community leaders
about the deteriorating political situation in the country.

The MDC T
on Wednesday placed a full colour advertisement in the weekly Independent
newspaper calling on its party faithfuls to attend the rally which will be
held at the Glamis Arena.

“The peace-loving and God-fearing people of
Zimbabwe have been pushed to the extreme due to abuse and political
motivated violence in the country,” read part of the
advertisement.

“So many people have lost life...due to the general
disregard of the people’s dignity, rights and diversity. The crisis of
governance and the ignoring of people’s basic freedoms of assembly, speech
and movement lie at the heart of the people’s dislocation, dysfunctionality
and the general malaise,” it said.

Nelson Chamisa, the MDC T
spokesman said the rally would provide party president Tsvangirai to brief
the people of Zimbabwe about the cause of their suffering and the reasons
behind the latest crisis inthe GNU.

“The people of Zimbabwe will get
an update of what is going on in the government. They need to be told about
this ZANU-PF strategy which has seen our people being arrested, persecuted,
the crisis in the GNU,” said Chamisa.

Meanwhile Chamisa said his party’s
MPs were now in more danger which is worse than rhinos which are always
hunted by poachers for their precious horns.

“Our MPs who are from
MDC are not honourable they have become vulnerable,” said Chamisa after his
party's deputy treasurer general and energy minister Elton Mangoma was
granted bail by the High Court on Tuesday.

“...our MPs are actually in a
worse position than the hippo, the rhino. Some key animals are actually
safer in Zimbabwe than our MPs.”

“We have insisted that we would want
protection to be provided to our members of parliament and they have to be
treated with dignity just like any other citizen,” he said.

Mangoma
became the first full cabinet minister in Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s
party to be arrested since the unity government was formed two years
ago.

Former youth and indigenisation deputy minister Thamsanqa Mahlangu
was the first to test the police cell on cell phone theft
allegations.

In between there have been several arrests of party MPs on
alleged rape and public violence charges, the most recent one being the
arrest of Nyanga North MP Douglas Mwonzora who spent nearly two weeks in
prison custody on alleged public violence charges.

Tsvangirai
meets Zambian and Mozambican presidents

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is in the middle of a diplomatic
offensive, trying to get leaders in the SADC region to establish a roadmap
for new elections, amid signs the marriage of convenience with ZANU PF has
all but collapsed.

On Tuesday Tsvangirai met Zambian President Rupiah
Banda, who is the head of the SADC Troika on Defence and Security.
Tsvangirai later travelled to the Mozambican capital Maputo, where he met
President Armando Guebuza whose country is also a member of the
Troika.The MDC leader is also expected to travel to South Africa and
Botswana, where he will meet the presidents in those countries. Speaking to
reporters in Mozambique Tsvangirai said; “There are a few problems
developing in terms of cohesion” in the coalition government and he wanted
Guebuza to be ‘fully briefed’ on the situation.

For Tsvangirai to say
‘there are a few problems’ is an understatement. In the space of 3 months
Mugabe’s regime has arrested over 100 activists perceived as loyal to
Tsvangirai, Energy Minister and key ally Elton Mangoma was also arrested and
compromised judges struck down the election of the MDC-T speaker of
parliament.

Writing in his blog, former student leader Freeman Chari
questioned why the MDC is pinning their hopes on an election roadmap from
South African President Jacob Zuma. “The South African government has an
amicable see-no-evil relationship with ZANU PF as shown by their “silent
diplomacy” even in the presence of compelling human rights abuses,” he
wrote.

Chari said a glimpse at the current coalition shows that “ZANU PF
has maintained its dominance over MDC by dictating what is and is not
implemented. The issue of the governors, issue of Roy Bennett, appointment
of permanent secretaries” and appointments of Gideon Gono and Johannes
Tomana, were evidence of clear ZANU PF dominance over the MDC in
government.“What has been the response of South Africa- the supposed
guarantors of the GPA,” Chari asked.

War
Vets, Zanu PF youths declare war on MDC

BULAWAYO - War veterans and Zanu PF youths have declared
war against Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) supporters in Mberengwa
district, Midlands province saying their party should start setting up a
refugee camp as they will all be forced to flee.

Mberengwa is a
Zanu PF stronghold since and in the past recent years war veterans have been
wagging serious violence against MDC supporters in the
district.

However, at a Zanu PF meeting held on Saturday at Vutsanana
Business Centre in Mataruse area, war veterans led by Sainayi Madhaka
threatened serious violence against MDC supporters saying they want to weed
all of them out of this district.

“They forced villagers to attend
this meeting where they instructed Zanu PF youths to put down names of all
MDC supporters in the area. Madhaka said MDC supporters should leave the
area otherwise they will face the wrath of war veterans in the next
coming few weeks,” Edius Moyo the mainstream MDC Mberengwa district
chairman told Daily News.

“Madhaka and his team said what is happening
now is just a tip of an iceberg and the MDC leadership should start erecting
a refugee camp for their supporters because they won’t allow them to stay in
Mberengwa,” Moyo said.

The meeting was chaired by Peter Hove a village
head and a Zanu PF chairperson for Mataruse Ward B One.

Moyo also
accused Chief John Bhera-Mataruse of working with the war veterans and Zanu
PF supporters to harass MDC members. “We have Chief Mataruse a known Zanu
(PF) activist who gives these war veterans the green light to harass our
members.”

Last month, several MDC supporters fled their homes in Murongwe
area in the same district after another team of war veterans led by one
Retired Major Shava raided their homes for boycotting a Zanu PF
rally.

When contacted recently over Mberengwa violence, Zanu PF
spokesperson Rugare Gumbo who is also a former legislator for Mberengwa East
constituency accused MDC of tarnishing the image of his party.

“These
people just want to continue tarnishing the image of Zanu PF. Mberengwa is
my home area and recently I personally engaged our supporters there not to
get involved in any form of violence,” said [ends here...]

UN agencies barred from food assessment for
'political reasons'

HARARE,
16 March 2011 (IRIN) - UN agencies and other non-government stakeholders are
being barred by Zimbabwe’s agricultural minister from participating in food and
crop assessment surveys on the basis of "national security".

"The issue
[of crop and food assessments] is a national security matter that should be
treated with the utmost caution and exclusivity, hence our decision as
government to exclude outsiders from the surveys. UN agencies in particular are
not welcome because they send out negative information about the country. We
don’t want to have politics in food issues," agriculture minister Joseph Made, a
member of President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party, told IRIN.

The UN
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP), with the
government and other agencies, have in the past compiled crop and food
assessments to determine national food availability, forecast any possible
shortages and initiate plans to cover shortfalls.

UN agencies in particular are
not welcome because they send out negative information about the country

In June
2008, during a year that witnessed violent presidential and parliamentary
elections, the FAO/WFP crop assessment initially forecast that 5.1 million
people would require food aid in the first quarter of 2009; this subsequently
increased to seven million.

"The first crop assessment has already been
carried out but we are withholding the findings because they have to be
presented to cabinet first. However, we are knee-deep in the districts and
provinces doing the second round of assessments and we don’t want to do a
half-baked job," Made said.

He said areas had been identified that were
critically short of maize, the staple, and "we are already moving grain to those
places, to ensure no one starves".

David Mfote, from the FAO Zimbabwe
country office, told IRIN by email: "Unfortunately, we are not in a position to
give you answers [to questions relating to the crop and livestock assessments],
mainly because as for this year, government carried out the first crop
assessment on its own. The same is also applying for the second crop assessment.
As a result, we have not been able to travel to the countryside to assess the
crop situation."

Dry spell

The 2010-2011 main agricultural season began well, with normal
to above-normal rainfall in many parts of the country, but a four-week dry spell in
February is thought to have adversely affected crop production and according to
a food security analyst, who declined to be named, there have been "high rates
of crop failures".

Analysts told IRIN that the exclusion of UN agencies
and other parties was designed to manipulate food access when there is
speculation about elections. Both President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change have expressed increasing dissatisfaction with the more than two-year-old unity government.

Eric Bloch, a Bulawayo economist and member of the Reserve Bank economic
advisory board, told IRIN: "Government has in the past exaggerated projected
crop yields and the same could happen this year. This has the unfortunate effect
of jeopardizing financial planning in the event that there is a food crisis this
year, as is highly likely.

"Once the wrong forecasts are made, the
government will be forced to make quick and hasty decisions to deal with a
humanitarian disaster; the economy is performing poorly and financial resources
are limited, and it will be difficult to mobilize the money to import maize and
other necessary cereals to ensure basic food security," he said.

Bloch
said the exclusion of international humanitarian organizations threatened access
to international food aid because "these organizations will take it in a bad
light and are likely to insist on doing interventions based on independent
information instead of that from a government that might lack credibility".

'Inflated yields'

John Robertson, an economist in the capital Harare, said the
decision to exclude outside agencies from the crop assessment was done to cast
Mugabe's fast-track land-reform programme in a positive light.

Launched
in 2000, it saw the often violent redistribution of white-owned farms to
landless black Zimbabweans and plunged the country into a recession from which
it has yet to recover.

"The exclusion [of the humanitarian agencies] is
purely for political reasons. President Mugabe’s side of the government, to
which agriculture minister Made belongs, wants to make the statement that land
reform in Zimbabwe is succeeding. In this case, they are likely to inflate
figures of yields and also seek to blame only the weather for poor yields,"
Robertson said.

He forecast that Zimbabwe might need to import one
million tons of maize this year "at a cost of close to half a billion dollars".

International agencies estimate that about 1.7 million Zimbabweans
require food assistance during the first quarter of 2011 or the "lean season",
which ends with the April harvest.

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of
the United Nations]

Farmers
fear new jambanja

HARARE - Zimbabwe's besieged white farmers are living in fear of a
fresh wave of attacks as marauding gangs of Zanu (PF) militias step up a
campaign of intimidation and violence against President Robert Mugabe's
opponents.Fearing a surge in attacks on its members, the Commercial Farmers
Union (CFU) this week urged Zimbabwe's remaining white farmers to maintain a
low profile and avoid igniting a political storm that could lead to
persecution by the militias."Politically we need to keep our heads down.
Please heed this warning," CFU president Deon Theron said in a notice to
members.He said the differences between Zimbabwe's main political parties
were coming to a head, warning that "we cannot afford to be caught up in the
strife". "Once again we see pre-election violence escalating, with the most
vulnerable suffering the most," Theron said.Zimbabwe's two main
political parties - Mugabe's Zanu (PF) and the MDC-T led by Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai – have, since January, accused each other of fuelling
resurgent violence that has rocked the main cities and towns. Zanu (PF),
which is behind most of the violence and has the backing of a partisan
police force and the army, accuses the MDC-T of provoking its members and
instigating the skirmishes.Theron said due to the uncertainty caused by the
political tension between the main parties and the resultant resurgent
violence, the CFU was actively pushing for finalisation of Mugabe's
controversial land reform programme. "We cannot afford a North African
scenario, and therefore we are stepping up our efforts to bring land reform
and compensation to an end. Obviously this encompasses compensation," he
said.The CFU chief was referring to the violent uprisings that led to the
ouster of former Tunisian and Egyptian leaders in January and February.
Zimbabwe's white farmers have submitted an ambitious agricultural recovery
plan to government that proposes converting into interest-bearing bonds the
amount owed by Harare to farmers for farms expropriated during a
controversial decade-long land reform programme.The proposal, which was
developed over the past eight months, is based on a cost-recovery model that
would allow the cash-strapped Zimbabwe government to gradually pay off
affected white farmers for land acquired while also reviving the country's
battered agriculture sector.The model revolves around re-establishing values
of the land and all assets to create new flows of investor funds, thereby
enabling the Treasury to compensate the farmers on a cost-recovery basis.
Central to the success of the proposal would be an agreement between
government and the farmers on the total value of land and investments on
farms acquired since the redistribution exercise began in 2000. Zimbabwe's
white commercial farmers in 2009 demanded US$5 billion in immediate
compensation from the government before they could vacate their
farms.The broke Harare regime has, however, refused to compensate the
farmers for land lost, accusing the British government of reneging on a 1979
promise to fund Zimbabwe's resettlement programme.

Chihuri
crushes new party

HARARE - Zimbabwe Police Commissioner-General Augustine
Chihuri has systematically worked to crush a new political party - the
Mthwakazi Liberation Front (MLF).Chihuri has put the party under strict
surveillance and arrested almost all its leaders, ostensibly for encouraging
secession in the south of the country and the rise of the Ndebele or
Mthwakazi State. But the tough-talking MLF spokesman, David Magagula, said
the arrest of five senior party members would only give it more impetus as
it continues to push for the “freedom” of the country’s western
region.Former Zapu President Paul Siwela, ZIPRA war veterans Charles Gumbo
and John Gazi are currently languishing in D Class remand custody for
treason. They are expected to appear in court on March 25.MLF
chairperson Nonsikelelo Ncube, spokesman Makhiwa Ndebele, and two other
party officials Ntombizodwa Moyo and Makhosi Khumalo were arrested by Law
and Order detectives in the Tredgold magistrate court last Friday when they
attended the initial remand hearing for Siwela, Gumbo and Gazi. Regional
magistrate John Masimba ruled there was a prima facie case against the three
and set down the matter for trial.

A leaked January police signal
from Chihuri to Matabeleland ProPols, Dispols and all the police stations in
the province says officers are “ordered to be on high alert, monitor and
arrest political activists from the region who are calling for a breakaway
state of Mthwakazi."The signal from Chihuri calls for the shutdown of MLF.
“The actions of this group will cause alarm and despondency, Zimbabwe is one
and they will never be two states,” says the signal. Fidelis Ncube, former
commander of the Zimbabwe Peoples Revolutionary Army, ZIPRA, which fought
the 1970s liberation war that ushered in independence in 1980, leads the
MLF.“Mugabe and his police officers are trying to silence us by this
harassment of our members, but we will fight harder until we achieve what we
stand for. Not even the detention without trial of our members can dampen
our spirits, but it will make us even bolder,” said Magagula.He accused
Mugabe of trying to further fuel ethnic hate by allegedly deploying his
terror gangs to beat up those who cannot speak Shona in Bulawayo, so as to
try and divert the octogenarian leader’s waning popularity by dividing and
ruling the country.“Mugabe used his divide and rule tactics in the early
1980s and is trying to use the same means again this time round. He is not
even ashamed of the thousands that his Gukurahundi soldiers killed and is
coming back again, but this time it will not work because he will face stiff
resistance from us,” said Magagula.The party wants an Ndebele State to
be a separate country from Zimbabwe. It comprises ZIPRA veterans and
nationalists, including Max Mkandla, leader of the Zimbabwe Liberators
Platform Peace Initiative, a pressure group of war veterans.MLF counts
among its membership staunch supporters of secession and fierce critics of
President Mugabe, who they accuse of proffering no apology for atrocities in
Matabeleland perpetrated by the security forces in the early
eighties.There is also concern that the region lagged behind during the
education boom in the 80s because of the Gukurahundi atrocities and little
was done to build more schools and tertiary institutions, and remains with
little poorly funded learning facilities.Many observers have accused MLF
of inciting hatred and tribalism, but others say what the party was
portraying was reflective of some of the Matabeleland views towards the
Harare government. "They should concentrate on the issue of unity, no one is
stopping them from having a party," a senior police contact at the PGHQ told
The Zimbabwean. He cannot be named because he is not authorised to speak to
the Press. He added: "They are trying to disturb the government, they want
to stir and make problems." Analysts say very few people in Matabeleland
favour independence.

Mthwakazi
trio's case splits lawyers

FIVE prominent Bulawayo lawyers have withdrawn their
membership of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights in protest after the
organisation refused to take up the cases of three Mthwakazi Liberation
Front (MLF) officials charged with treason.

The donor-funded ZLHR has
a fund used to pay for legal representation of “human rights defenders” who
are “arrested, detained or otherwise impeded by state agents in the exercise
of their human or constitutional rights”.

But the organisation has
refused to take up the case of Paul Siwela, John Gazi and Charles Thomas
whose organisation advocates a separate Ndebele state, claiming they are
“advocating for violence and hate speech and for that reason do not fall
within the definition of human rights defenders”.

The trio were arrested
on March 3 and charged with treason for allegedly distributing pamphlets and
planning the overthrow of President Robert Mugabe’s government.They face
the death penalty if convicted.

But the five lawyers -- Advocate Lucas
Nkomo, Robert Ndlovu, Sindiso Mazibisa, Kucaca Ivumile Phulu and Matshobana
Ncube – accuse the ZLHR of using a different standard than the one applied
in similar cases elsewhere.

In a letter to the ZLHR, Phulu drew
comparisons with the cases of the International Socialist Organisation's
Zimbabwe coordinator Munyaradzi Gwisai and five others recently charged with
treason and two other treason cases involving the former Chimanimani MP Roy
Bennett and arms dealer Peter Hitchmann.

Said Phulu: “The ZLHR
updates indicate that Gwisai and five others have been charged with treason
for seeking to ‘violently overthrow the government’. We know it is a lie by
the state, so they get representation by ZLHR. But there is no indaba to say
that ‘the International Socialist Organisation has once circulated articles
advocating for jambanja so they are not human rights
defenders’.

“ZLHR has represented Hitchmann and Bennett when they
were being charged with seeking to subvert a constitutional government and
were alleged to have arms. ZLHR was quite ready to say the arms were planted
and it was not true that they advocated violent means to overthrow the
government. We said that they were innocent until proven
guilty.”

Phulu said while he found the Mthwakazi Liberation Front’s views
“repugnant” and “vehemently disagreed” with them, “this should not
influence me as a human rights lawyer when their case, which is on all fours
with all other cases, is presented to me to defend.”

The break-away
lawyers have now formed the Bammeli Human Rights Lawyers’ Network to take up
the case of the trio, and another involving MDC-T MP for Pelandaba Samuel
Sandla Khumalo who is charged with possession of marijuana for no fee, said
Mazibisa.

“It is saddening that those charged with the mandate to
represent human rights defenders do so in a selective way. This is
exemplified by the fact that in all their news alerts, ZLHR makes reference
to one treason case i.e the State v Gwisai and others, despite the fact that
they know full well that the MLF people are charged with treason as well,”
Mazibisa said in a statement.

“Abammeli feels that ZLHR were in error
in this case and a judgement was made before seeking to hear the accused’s
side of the case. The right to self determination is a right like any other
and is recognised by international law, a group of people are allowed to
pursue it without being constrained by unjust laws or trumped up charges as
is the case in this matter.”

The five said they had “the commitment
of more than 40 lawyers” to join their network, “undertaking to commit and
dedicate their time and efforts to the representation of human rights
defenders”.

Battle
for Speaker of Parliament post hots up

The battle lines are drawn for Tuesday 22 March, when legislators
from all three political parties meet to elect a new speaker of parliament.
This follows the shock decision by the Supreme Court to set aside the August
2008 election of MDC-T candidate Lovemore Moyo as Speaker.

Veritas,
who monitor legal and parliamentary affairs, said: “The first business of
the House when it resumes is to elect a new Speaker. In terms of both the
Constitution and House of Assembly Standing Orders, the House cannot
transact any business until a new Speaker has been elected.”Veritas have
however pointed out that ‘if preparations are not in place for an election
to be held on Tuesday 22nd when the House is due to resume, the Clerk of
Parliament may fix another date for the election.”

As the parties measure
their voting strengths in parliament, ZANU PF have focused their energies on
blocking Moyo from voting, claiming he forfeited his Matobo North seat when
he was elected speaker. Clerk of Parliament Austin Zvoma immediately nailed
his flag to the ZANU PF mast, claiming Moyo was no longer an MP and could
not vote in the election.

Lawyer Dr Alex Magaisa however posed the
question of whether Moyo did in fact lose his seat. “In other words, did he
lose his seat when he became Speaker by virtue of an invalid election or
does he revert to his position as an MP now that the Supreme Court says he
was never properly elected in the first place?”

“It would be odd if a
person in Moyo’s position were to suffer what would in effect be
double-jeopardy on account of a flawed election that was not his fault. If a
court of law finds that the election was irregular and invalid, it is
tantamount to saying there was never an election in the first place,”
Magaisa argued.

For ZANU PF the strength of the legal arguments do
not matter. With the judiciary, police, army and other state security
agencies in their pocket they can do as they please. For example, recently
released Nyanga North MP Douglas Mwonzora confirmed that several MDC-T MP’s
are being targeted for arrest before the vote, to reduce the party’s voting
strength. Two are already in custody.The MDC-T say Lovemore Moyo will
remain their candidate while the smaller MDC faction led by Welshman Ncube
will field the losing candidate in 2008, Paul Themba Nyathi. ZANU PF do not
have the numbers to elect their own candidate and are said to be still
consulting. National chairman Simon Khaya Moyo is said to be a front runner,
if they decide not to back Nyathi as they did last time.

Meanwhile on
Tuesday Moyo gave up the cars that he was using as speaker of parliament.
Clerk of Parliament Austin Zvoma said; "He handed over a 350 S Class
(Mercedes Benz) and a Range Rover," adding he will remain in the house
Parliament was renting for him until month-end.

Constitutional
process expected to end in September

The co-chairman of the constitutional parliamentary committee
(COPAC), Douglas Mwonzora, says barring any major delays or further arrests
of their leadership, they expect to finish the constitution making process
on the 30th September this year.

Last week Friday a High Court Judge
granted bail to Mwonzora, plus 24 other activists, following their arrests
on trumped-up charges of instigating violence. The Nyanga North MP was
released after spending 25 days in custody while the other activists were
held for 27 days.

Speaking to SW Radio Africa shortly after his release
Mwonzora said his arrest had cost the constitution making process about one
month’s worth of work. Although his colleagues made certain decisions in his
absence he was not happy with several of them and had to take measures to
correct certain omissions.

For example, Mwonzora told us the views of
those in the Diaspora and several institutions that made submissions, had
been ignored and not uploaded into the system. He said it had since been
agreed by both the Select and Management committees that this has to be
done.

Meanwhile Mwonzora spoke about the treatment he received while in
police custody, saying he was not allowed to receive medical treatment for
the first 5 days in custody. For three days he was denied food and water and
not allowed any visitors. An armed policeman was stationed outside the
police station where he was being held.

Mwonzora’s paper work
relating to his bail application also went missing, until his lawyers wrote
to the Judge President filing a complaint. Even when he was granted bail the
state invoked controversial legislation to suspend his bail for a further 7
days.

Tune in to a special edition of Question Time where Lance Guma
speaks to Douglas Mwonzora about his ordeal.

Prisoners
stay naked in condemned cells

Albert Mugove Matapo, a remand prison inmate facing
treason charges and another one for allegedly attempting a jailbreak with
six other prisoners, told the court this week he was kept naked for a month,
in darkness and in leg-irons.This came out in an application for
referral of the case to the Supreme Court made by the prisoners’ lawyers
Charles Warara and Gift Nyandoro before regional magistrate Morgan Nemadire.
The inmates cited violation of their constitutional rights.Matapo, Silas
Sarezi Shonhiwa, Phillip Chivhurunge, Ruperts Chimanga, Luck Mhungu and
Bigknows Wairesi allege the state violated Section 15(1) and 18 of the
Constitution of Zimbabwe that deals with protection against inhuman
treatment.Warara said he also wanted the Supreme Court to determine
whether it was constitutional for accused persons to appear in court wearing
labelled clothes and standing trial while in leg-irons.Warara submitted
that at one point, one of his clients, Matapo, was made to spend a month
naked in a cell with only two blankets. The lawyer claimed his clients were
subjected to punishment without trial since their arrest four years ago. “My
client (Matapo) was removed from a normal prison cell and taken to a cell
called FB1 where conditions are that no natural light gets into the cell
and, in the absence of electric lights, my client spends 24 hours in
darkness,” Warara said.The lawyers also reminded the court that the FB1
prison cells were condemned by the Supreme Court and said prison authorities
had reopened the condemned cells, which had been closed, specifically to
accommodate their clients. “It is torture to live in that cell where the
toilet has no flashing system,” Warara said. “My client only gets water to
flush the toilet at the discretion of the prison officers. Matapo has been
living under such conditions for the past 11 months.”He also said Matapo
and his co-accused were allowed to leave their cells for just 30 minutes a
day and spent twenty-three-and-a-half hours locked in cells measuring, 4,5
metres by 1,5 metres. Prosecutor Michael Razor is expected to respond to the
allegations and an application by Warara on Friday.

Abducted
and assaulted by armed men in police uniform

Try Karedza, the
Mt Darwin North district MDC Youth Assembly chairperson was on Monday
morning abducted by seven armed men in police uniform and assaulted. Karedza
from Katiyo village has been hospitalised due to injuries he sustained from
the beatings. He was taken to Nyanguwu near the Zimbabwe’s border with
Mozambique where he was blind - folded and severely assaulted.The
unidentified men, who were driving in a white truck, later left him
unconscious. After recovering, Karedza sought assistance from some good
Samaritans who took him to Bindura where he is seeking medical attention. In
Chiredzi South, Cephas Magezani of Ward 7, Chikombedzi managed to escape
abduction after four unidentified men attempted to kidnap him at gunpoint at
his home on Monday night.Meanwhile, two MDC activists, Taona Chikono and
Oliver Mukombwe from Chipadze in Bindura were arrested this morning on
forged charges of assaulting one Last Siraya. They are in custody at
Bindura Central Police Station.In Harare, seven MDC youth activists and
three employees who were facing similar charges of assault were today
released from police custody at Harare Central Police Station after the
police said they could not locate the alleged complainant. The 10 were
arrested at Harvest House, the MDC head office on Sunday night but no
charges could be laid against them as there was no complainant.In
Masvingo province, Choke Chamunorwa an MDC youth activist died at Masvingo
General Hospital this morning where he was admitted for injuries sustained
when he was assaulted by Zanu PF youths in June 2008. Chamunorwa was beaten
by Zanu PF youths in 2008 at his home in Chiwara village, Gutu South and
since then his health has been deteriorating.Now is the time to make your
pledge for peace. Be part of real change…• Say NO to all forms of
Violence! Say NO to corruption! Say NO to Murder & persecution!! Say NO
to poverty! Say NO to lies!• Say YES to Peace, Justice, accountability,
prosperity & Democracy! Say YES to Real Change; Investment, health,
education, food and Jobs!

Release
our comrades demands WOZA

SEVEN members of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) appeared in
Tredgold Magistrates Court today 16 March, they will reappear again on 23rd
of March 2011. The 3 women and 4 men arrested on 28 February in two separate
incidents in Entumbane and Mabutweni. Although reporting conditions were
relaxed and they now only report once a week, charges were not dropped as
there is resistance from the police officers.Before they appeared in
Court, the Defence lawyer Matshobana Ncube met with the provincial area
prosecutor and the Attorney general's office Mrs Cheda who indicated that
they have formally requested a meeting with the District Commanding Police
Officer Inspector R. Masina to obtain understanding as to the significance
of the Supreme Court ruling to prevent the continued arrest of WOZA members
by the police officers in defiance of the ruling. The Supreme Court ruling
was obtained by WOZA leaders Jennifer Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu from a
16 October 2008 arrest and 3 week detention at Mlondolozi prison. An update
on the three women, Eneles Dube, Janet Dube and Selina Dube arrested during
the 7th March protest were followed home and brought to court to be
formally charged.On the 10th of March 2011 Lizwe Jamela of Zimbabwe Lawyers
for Human Rights was advised by Bulawayo Central Police Station from
Constable Runesu that District Commanding Police Officer (DISPOL) Inspector
R Masina had demanded that the three Eneles Dube and others be formally
charged. They appeared in court on 11th of March 2011 with Defence lawyer
Kossam Ncube. They were charged with criminal nuisance as defined in
paragraph 2[v] of the Third schedule to the Criminal Law [ Codification and
Reform] Act, Chapter 9:23 as with section 46 of the said Act which basically
means 'blocking the pavement'.They appeared before Magistrate Gideon
Ruvetsa and Public Prosecutor Jeremiah Mutsindikwa, where they were remanded
on free bail out of custody to the 21st of March 2011. Lawyer Kossam Ncube
indicated to the court than on the 21st he will note an application of
refusal of further remand.WOZA leaders Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu
are currently on a speaking tour of the United Kingdom and United States of
America. In the last month after the Valentines Day protests, Police
officers launched regular visits to their homes and sent messages through
members that they tortured to reveal the whereabouts of the leaders. Police
officers also contacted a Human Rights lawyer, demanding he bring the
leaders to Bulawayo Central Police station indicating that they 'must
prepare themselves for a long detention'. As a result of the supreme Court
ruling which police are obviously ignoring, it was determined that they of
this heightened harassment and obvious ignoring of the Supreme Court ruling,
Williams and Mahlangu have not voluntarily presented themselves to this
persecution.WOZA call on the all officers Zimbabwe Republic Police to
professionalise and shake themselves from the choke of their political
masters. The days of reckoning will come soon and they will be faced with
the guilt of their torture alone. They must not blindly follow the dictates
of politicians to arrest and detain human rights defenders but should
interrogate as decent human beings the letter of the law and the principle
of investigate to arrest not arrest to investigate. We call on them to free
all human rights defenders in custody including our Comrades Gwisai, Gumbo,
Tafadzwa and others.

Central
Bank Chief Proposes Compensation for Dollarisation Victims

Finance
Minister Tendai Biti projected in 2010 that the payout may amount to US$6
million but the bill ballooned to more than US$18 million with allegations
that some so-called vultures were inflating their bank balances.

Gibbs
Dube | Washington 15 March 2011

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
Governor Gideon Gono says there is swelling discontent among those who lost
millions of dollars in frozen accounts when the country introduced a
multiple currency regime.

Gono told a Parliamentary Committee on Mines
and Energy that Finance Minister Tendai Biti has to mobilize resources to
compensate dozens of people and companies whose accounts were frozen during
the dollarization process.

In 2010, Biti projected that the payout
may amount to US$6 million but the bill ballooned to more than US$18 million
with allegations some were inflating their previous bank
balances.

Economists said Zimbabwe is not yet in a position to refund
individuals and companies that lost their money due to serious financial
problems.

Economist Eric Bloch said compensating the victims of the
economic meltdown is a good idea but modalities of implementing the program
are complex.

“It may also be pointless for people with bank balances at
that time of less than Z$100 trillion to pursue the matter as they will not
get anything as the local currency was valueless,” said Bloch.

MDC Calls
For Demonstration Against UK Deportations

London, March 16, 2011 - The Movement for Democratic Change
UK and Ireland External Assembly is calling for a demonstration to protest
against the deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe and the decision by the UK
Home Office to start deporting failed asylum seekers back to
Zimbabwe.

According to the London-based Zimbabwean newspaper, the
demonstration is directed at President Robert Mugabe who has launched an
assault on his partners in Government through arrests and violence. In 2008
the world witnessed Mugabe using the same tactics to hold on to power.
Having failed to gain recognition from the African Union, he was forced to
form a Government of National Unity with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
who had boycotted the election because of pre-election
violence.

"Mugabe now realises that he cannot win any free and fair
election in Zimbabwe, so he has resorted to the same repressive tactics by
arresting MDC officials, Ministers and MPs, detaining them, denying them
bail, and making them rot in his filthy cells," the MDC said in its call for
the demonstration.

No less than five MDC MPs have been under
incarceration in the last three weeks, including Energy Minister Elton
Mangoma, Gokwe MP Costin Muguti, who was granted bail on Wednesday, but
remained detained after the state invoked the repressive Section 121. Muguti
is facing charges of threatening to assault Chief Samuel Samambwa of Zhombe.
Another MP Hon. Rodgers Tazviona was arrested last month on the same charges
and is in remand prison at Kwekwe Remand Prison, due for a bail hearing at
the High Court on 23 March.

"It is clear that these arrests are being
used to whittle down the number of MDC MPs available in the House of
Assembly for the election of the Speaker, following another controversial
decision by Mugabe's Supreme Court to strip Lovemore Moyo of the position.
Zanu (PF) is now relying on violence, a biased police force, biased soldiers
and a biased judiciary to win what it failed to win in elections.
Zimbabweans have been so cowed by Zanu (PF) intimidation at markets, on
buses, and even in their homes and villages that they no longer speak
out.

"I am appealing to you to all MDC members and Zimbabweans in UK to
come and join us in London in great numbers send this message together. A
clear message should be sent to those who allow Mugabe to continue his
onslaught on innocent Zimbabweans while they nicodimusely engage with him
and prolong the people’s struggle."

"The South African Government,
the Mediator, the SADC and African Union, the guarantors of the Zimbabwean
GNU must see the plight of Zimbabweans. The Conservation/Liberal Democratic
government’s obsession in returning Zimbabweans back to a country that is
gripped with political violence and in meltdown should be questioned. How
can the Immigration and Asylum Upper Chamber say it’s safe to return
Zimbabweans when the world media is clearly hi-lighting the violence in
Zimbabwe and unrepentant Mugabe?"

"The odds are against us, both at home
and in this country. The new country guidance case on Zimbabwe is going to
put our vulnerable fellow Zimbabweans at great risk of persecution by the
Mugabe regime. Let’s stand up and protect each other, our community is under
siege. See you on 21st March in London at the Zimbabwean Embassy at 1200
noon."

Police
defy Chihuri

HARARE - In a move that has the potential of opening a flurry of
cases against Zanu (PF) supporters, police in Mudzi have opened up dockets
against the former ruling party activists who are accused of orchestrating a
reign of terror in the area.The move by police at Nyamapanda Police
Station is a rare display of impartiality by the police force whom the
public accuse of largely being pro-Zanu (PF). A senior police officer at the
station told this paper that they have opened several dockets against
suspected Zanu (PF) supporters in the area.“The case range from theft,
intimidation and acts of violence,” said the police officer. Silas Gweshe,
MDC Spokesperson for Mashonaland East, said that Zanu (PF) has set up mobile
bases in the area that are used to intimidate supporters of the former
opposition movement. Among the people that Gweshe named are Jivas Chiuta,
who is the ward councillor, Martin Vhori, Langton Masapi and Philip
Chinyanga who is an ex-soldier.Recently a top US envoy, Deputy Assistant
Secretary of State for African Affairs Susan Page, urged members of the
uniformed forces to stand up against the few individuals within their rank
who are partisan. “We recognize that not everyone within the Zimbabwe
Republic Police and armed forces supports or is engaged in violence,” said
Page.

Zim's
Freedom of Expression under Threat As AG Threatens Crackdown on
Editors

Harare, March 16, 2011 -
Zimbabwe's Attorney General, Johannes Tomana forced a Zimbabwean independent
daily, NewsDay to retract a story accusing him of corruption after
threatening the papers’ editors with arrest.

Tomana is said to have told
the editors to either retract the story or face arrest and detention. The
editors reportedly quaked in their boots and succumbed to the
threats.

Sources said Tomana threatened to have the paper’s editors, the
reporter who wrote the story, the company chief executive, Rapheal Khumalo
and chairman, Trevor Ncube arrested.

“They quickly made arrangements
to pacify Tomana,” said one source.

The paper reported last week
Transparent International Zimbabwe (TIZ), an anti-corruption pressure group,
had accused Tomana and senior officials in his department of corruption and
gross abuse of office and called upon the relevant arms of government to
investigate them.

The organisation cited four high-profile cases in which
they alleged Tomana abused his authority to get suspects off the
hook.

But NewsDay in their Tuesday issue retracted
the story claiming their investigations had revealed the cases were handled
transparently.

NewsDay editor, Brian Mangwende, said: “We were made to
question the mandate of the AG in terms of the mandate conferring Section 76
of the Constitution which we understand clearly puts beyond question the
AG’s discretion around issues of prosecution and we would like to dissociate
ourselves from the unconstitutional insinuations which are borne out of the
document from TIZ.”

TIZ claimed in February 2006, Matonga, a former chief
executive officer at Zupco, was charged with two counts of corruption
involving US$10 000 and $150 000 but the matter was swept under the
carpet.

Matonga, was also involved in a car accident which claimed the
lives of three people and again the matter was never pursued.

The
other matter involved Basile, then acting medical superintendent of Bindura
Provincial Hospital who was facing 367 counts of criminal misconduct
involving alleged embezzlement of 5 025 litres of diesel and 9 982 of
petrol.

Her trial commenced in March 2009, with the testimony of
eight witnesses including the permanent secretary in the Health
ministry.

On the Nherera’s issue, TIZ claimed the AG had a hand in the
quashing of his conviction. But in a spectacular climb down, the newspaper
retracted the story saying the cases were dealt with in a “transparent
manner”.

Is Jonathan Moyo demonising himself?

Clifford Chitupa Mashiri, Political
Analyst 16/03/11

Jonathan Moyo could be said to be demonising himself for
being credited for crafting notorious laws like AIPPA and POSA. Similarly,
he might not be doing himself favours with his current hostile campaign
against MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai.

Choosing to attack the MDC
leader in his personal capacity only seems to exposes Jonathan Moyo’s own
fear of Morgan Tsvangirai’s popularity. To consider that against all odds,
Tsvangirai polled 1 195 562 votes and Mugabe got 1 079 730 votes in the
March 29th 2008 presidential election (Sokwanele.com), still that is not
enough to earn him the respect of the politician from
Tsholotsho.

Crying louder than the bereavedOne commentator hit the
nail on the head when he said: ‘Moyo’s recent attacks of Prime Minister
Tsvangirai and MDC ministers is meant to convince both his sympathisers and
detractors in Zanu-pf that he is still part of them by speaking their
language and crying louder than the bereaved’ (The Zimbabwe Standard,
03/10/09).

When an audit of the diamond sales was called for by the
Finance Minister Tendai Biti, Jonathan Moyo cried foul and there was a
Zanu-pf outcry. Bizzarely, the state-owned Herald claimed on Wednesday 15
March 2011 that ‘nearly US$167 million has found its way into Treasury after
verification and reconciliation of proceeds from diamond sales following
conflicting statements by Ministers Tendai Biti and Obert
Mpofu.

Somehow, all of a sudden the Herald is the Exchequer or Treasury
by determining what the proceeds from diamond sales should be used for. What
the Herald needs to know is that the people of Zimbabwe would like a full
audit of the diamond sales to determine who sold what, where, to whom, when,
for how much and where did the proceeds go.

Similarly, the people
want a full audit of Zimbabwe’s debt to establish the amounts, dates, who
authorised them, what the loans were used for because any expenditure on
weapons is very controversial since Zimbabwe has never been officially at
war at least with Parliament’s consent. Therefore proceeds from diamond
sales cannot be diverted to clear a debt that may have been used to buy
weapons or to pay people who terrorised and murdered innocent civilians
during Gukurahundi or in elections because of their political
views.

Allergic to the truthJonathan Moyo’s critics have described
him as ‘allergic to the truth’, ‘Mugabe’s own Goebbels’, ‘ a person of acid
if not twisted tongue’, ‘objective when bitter’, ‘too ambitious’, ‘not
trusted’ (within Zanu-pf itself), ‘clever but not wise’ (by Robert Mugabe),
‘a controversial political figure’, someone with an ‘insatiable hatred for
Tsvangirai’, ‘a political prostitute, a turncoat and a chameleon’, ‘an
arrogant mafikizolo who lacked respect for elders’ and so on.

It
could be argued that Jonathan Moyo’s discomfort with democracy and the rule
of law is their potential for exposing a lot of dirty linen and possibly
make him account for his alleged misdeeds. Notes about Jonathan Nathaniel
Moyo which are on the wikipedia website say he is considered the core
architect of AIPPA and POSA (notorious laws which are still on Zimbabwe’s
statute book, albeit undergoing some amendments).

Contrary to his
anti-western rhetoric, according to wikipedia, his two scholarships from the
United Nations and the African American Institute enabled him graduate with
a Bachelor’s (BSc) degree in public policy at the University of Southern
California in 1982 where he also did his post-graduate studies.

There
are also references on the website to his ‘war with the media’ especially
resentment towards The Daily News, his ‘war at home’, ‘war with foreigners’
and that he departed the Ford Foundation under a cloud after allegations
that he had embezzled USD$88,000 from the organisation.

According to The
Zimbabwean of 19 October 2006 Moeletsi Mbeki, younger brother of former
president Thabo Mbeki, and Witwatersrand University (Wits) had “separately
applied for an order to have Zimbabwe’s former Information Minister Jonathan
Moyo jailed the next he visits South Africa on allegations of absconding
with millions of rands that he allegedly owes”.

Flip-flopping or a
vendetta?Jonathan Moyo seems to court criticism with his alleged political
flip-flopping and suspected vendetta. He was once asked by Munyaradzi Huni
about the Gukurahundi Bill which he wanted to bring to Parliament as a way
of fixing Zanu-pf before applying to re-join the same party. What is
curious is not the idea of such a bill being put into law but its
unexplained sudden death. But what is Moyo’s grudge against the
MDC?.

For example, he is cited in Luise White’s ‘The Assassination of
Herbert Chitepo’ 2003:105 as saying:

“The MDC is ‘a political party
with its roots in the donor purse run by Rhodesians who tortured and killed
Zimbabweans during our liberation struggle.”

However, Jonathan Moyo
has a right to respond to reports in July 2009 that a source in the MDC
party had alleged that he begged the Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to
include him on the list of MDC-T ministerial nominees.

“The Prime
Minister did not decline, but told him he would consult the national
executive, it never got there because Minister Biti was fiercely opposed to
the whole idea, arguing that Moyo brings no value to the MDC,” the source
said (zimbabwemetro.com, 20/07/09). So are Tsvangirai and Biti being made
penalised for that?

Did Jonathan Moyo kill the Diaspora
vote?Again according to a citation in Luise White’s book, Jonathan Moyo then
information minister insisted that “Rhodesians, neo-colonialists, and other
retrogressive forces” voted against the government’s proposed
constitution.

“Some of them came…all the way from South Africa, to vote
in the referendum” (2003:98). Moyo reportedly said these words in a ZBC
interview in February 2000. Does this explain why Zanu-pf is so hostile to
the Diaspora vote? Did Jonathan Moyo kill the Diaspora vote?Are we being
penalised for Zanu-pf’s defeat in the 2000 referendum?